(May 14, 2009) It’s one thing to have evaluation data showing a school program is working, like the 98 percent success rate of IDRA’s Coca-Cola Valued Youth Program. But the success is even more dramatic when you hear the students in their own words describe how their lives have changed. Following a national essay contest among tutors in the Coca-Cola Valued Youth Program, Linda Cantú, Ph.D., director of this dropout prevention program, shares examples of student’s stories of how the program helped them do better in school and how they had helped their tutees to do better. In addition, the grand prize winner, Gabriella Guajardo, reads her own winning essay. Linda is interviewed by
Bradley Scott , Ph.D., director of the IDRA South Central Collaborative for Equity. Send comments to
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“Since I became a tutor…,”
U.S. Grande Prize Winning Essay by Gabriella Marie Guajardo, 12th grade,
San Antonio ,
Texas
in English, Spanish, Portuguese
“My Experience with Coca-Cola,”
Brazil Grande Prize Winning Essay by Alanna Alves Moraes, eighth grade,
Uberlândia ,
Brazil
in English/Portuguese
*
Bradley Scott , Ph.D., introduces the essay contest and asks Linda why it was so important to have the tutors talk about the impact that the program has had on them.
* Linda explains how parents feel about their children being part of the program.
* Linda reads and discusses excerpts from three student essays.
* The grand prize winner, Gabriella Guajardo, reads her essay at a ceremony in
Brazil .
* Linda Cantú talks about the role that the Coca-Cola Valued Youth Program has played in Gabriella's life.
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